Chinese President Xi Jinping on Tuesday vowed to prevent anyone trying to 'split' Taiwan from the Chinese mainland "in any way", as the decades-long tensions between the two are flaring up dramatically ahead of the parliamentary elections in the self-governed island next month. The Chinese President asserted that the reunification of the Chinese "motherland" is an irreversible trend.
Xi made his remarks at a symposium commemorating the 130th birth anniversary of former Chinese leader Mao Zedong, who defeated the Republic of China government in a civil war in 1949 and the latter fled to Taiwan. "The motherland must be reunified, and inevitably will be reunified," Xi told senior officials from the Communist Party, as quoted by the Xinhua news agency.
He further said that China must deepen integration between the two sides, promote the peaceful development of relations across the Taiwan Strait, and "resolutely prevent anyone from splitting Taiwan from China in any way". Taiwan's upcoming presidential elections will be held on January 13 and are set to define the next phase of its relations with China, which considers the self-governed island as part of its territory and has promised to reclaim it by force if necessary.
China says that the Taiwan election is an internal Chinese affair but that the island's people face a choice between war and peace and any attempt at Taiwan independence means war. Beijing has repeatedly denounced the island's presidential frontrunner Lai Ching-Te from the ruling Democratic Progressive Party (DPP) as a dangerous separatist and rebuffed his calls for talks.
Both the DPP and Taiwan's main opposition party the Kuomintang (KMT), which traditionally favours close ties with China but denies being pro-Beijing, say only the island's people can decide their future. Beijing has stepped up its military incursions to assert its sovereignty claims as the country's presidential elections approach.
China threatens more trade sanctions on Taiwan
Meanwhile, the Chinese government on Wednesday threatened to place more trade sanctions on Taiwan if the ruling DPP "stubbornly" adheres to supporting independence, in a further escalation of the war of words before the impending Taiwanese elections.
Earlier this month, Taiwan accused China of economic coercion and election interference after Beijing announced the end of tariff cuts on some chemical imports from the island, claiming that Taipei violated a trade agreement between the two sides signed in 2010. China has also put up trade barriers for the self-governed island in contravention of World Trade Organisation (WTO) rules and the 2010 trade deal.
Chen Binhua, spokesperson for China's Taiwan Affairs Office, said that the "root cause" of resolving problems related to the 2010 deal was Taiwan's ruling Democratic Progressive Party's (DPP) adherence to the island's formal independence.
"If the DPP authorities are determined to persevere, continue to stubbornly adhere to their Taiwan independence position, and refuse to repent, we support the relevant departments taking further measures in accordance with the regulations," Chen said.
Chen said that Taiwan was "facing a crossroads" about where to go, and that anything could be discussed based on opposing Taiwan's independence, reiterating that Taiwan's independence means war. However, Chen also extended his "heartfelt thanks" to Taiwanese companies that donated money to help deal with the aftermath of an earthquake in a remote part of northwestern China this month which killed 149 people.
(with inputs from Reuters)
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